The Uprising
by MexiFBI95
Summary: Having failed the first time in turning Natara, Genevieve Collins will do anything it takes to get her because without her, the war cannot be won. She will do anything it takes to change Natara's mind, even if it means using force. Can Mal figure it all out before it's too late? ***Finally Updated! Chapter 9 is up*** Plus the conclusion to a new beginning!
1. Chapter 1: The Set Up

"_I trust you have a plan because I need her in order to begin this war. She might have escaped me once, but she will not escape me a second, not this time. This time is going to be different." Genevieve Collins looks to Esmeralda Salazar with a devious demeanor._

"_I have someone as we speak taking care of that. And don't worry," Esmeralda looks to Genevieve with a smirk on her face, "I've got __everything__ under control."_

_Genevieve nods and replies, "I sure hope you're right my love, because if it doesn't get done," she turns to walk away as she waves her hand as if swatting a fly, "Let's just say that it won't turn too well for you."_

**You are now Special Agent Natara Williams **

You and your partner Mal Fallon race up the stairs after your murder suspect, Cecil Rucker.

As you reach the end of the stairs and go for the door to the roof, you hear gunfire and Mal pulls you back just in time before the door explodes with bullets.

"Natara, are you okay?" Mal asks.

"Yeah, thanks Mal."

You wait for the bullets to stop and once they do, Mal kicks in the door to reveal Cecil reloading his gun. Cautiously you approach Cecil and say, "Cecil Rucker, put down your weapon and hands on your head, NOW!"

Cecil pauses for a sec before raising his gun and asking, "Why would I do that you pigs?"

"We know what you did to Gerry Ross." Mal responds.

Cecil freezes in his place and glares back, tears starting to form around his eyes as he says, "Yeah well do you know what he did to my little girl? That drunken bastard beat her every time she went to her whore a mother's house!"

You and Mal slowly take a couple steps toward Cecil as you say, "What Gerry did to her was wrong but killing him wasn't the answer. We can help you, though, if you just put down the gun and come with us."

Cecil hesitates for a moment, tears staining his face, before sadly saying, "It's too late for me." With that, he aims his gun towards you and you hear the sound of gunshots. You hold your breath for a second before realizing that Mal had shot Cecil right in his forehead and he was now lying in a pool of his own blood.

Mal looks to you with a concerned look on his face before smiling and says, "Damn Natara, that's the second time I had to save you in less than five minutes."

You shake your head and laugh with him as you say. "Isn't that what partners are for?"

Mal chuckles before sadly noting, "Too bad it had to end this way, though."

You look to where Cecil lies, where he now is being put into a body bag.

"Yeah, too bad."

**You are now Detective Mal Fallon**

You drive back to the precinct with Natara in the passenger seat in an awkward silence that is interrupted by the buzzing of her phone. She looks at her blackberry and sighs as she answers the text.

Curious, you ask, "Is that the Captain with another case?"

Natara gives you a weak smile as she answers, "No, it's just Oscar."

Your face falters for a moment before you regain your composure as you say, "_Just_ Oscar, since when is he _just _Oscar?"

As you roll to a stop in front of the precinct, you gaze into Natara's eyes and ask her, "Come on Natara, what's really the matter?"

Natara looks down as she just shakes her head.

Gripping the steering wheel tight, you tell her, "Don't you trust me Nat?"

Natara looks up instantly in shock as she angrily says, "What's that suppose to mean?"

All your emotions you have been holding in since you put your feelings out there, the hurt of Natara choosing Oscar over you, comes out in an angry rush as you say, "Come on Natara! You know exactly what I mean! We've been through hell and back together; the Maskmaker, the Flores cartel, Zero, Shawn and freakin' Genevieve Collins and so many more! All of this and you can't spare me a hint at what's going on between you and Santos? I've bared my heart and soul to you and you decide to choose Oscar over me, a cocky attorney who you hardly even know. I respected that, though. So now I'll give you space if you can't talk about him in front of me." Still fuming, you get out of the car and slam the door, without even looking back to see Natara's reaction. You know you have hurt her and can't stand to see her upset, but you couldn't control yourself.

As you keep walking, you hear a car door slam and within seconds, a hand grabs your arm in a tight grip, forcing you to look into Natara's anger stricken eyes.

"I can't believe you just said that Mal! You think it's easy for me to just jump into a relationship with anybody? "

You look down to Natara's hard grip on your arm then look up as you reply in a harsh tone, "Well, I assume not since you're one of the best FBI profilers in the agency."

Natara's hand flinches from your forearm as her eyes go dark, "Well then, I guess there's nothing to say if my profiling is correct. And since you asked," Her voice falters as she turns to walk around, trying to fight back the flow of tears, "Oscar made dinner plans with me tonight even after I told him not to because he hadn't visited his son since Halloween." With that, she stormed in the opposite way of the precinct, heading to her apartment, not even bothering to sign out of the precinct and file the report.

You hang your head as everything that just happened sinks in.

**You are now Special Agent Natara Williams**

Putting on the final touch of makeup, you stroll out of your bathroom and await the arrival of Oscar. You hope that Oscar will keep your mind off of what happened between Mal and yourself. Deep down, however, you know that Mal is right. Well, partially. Being an FBI profiler, you know how to get into the heads of some of the sickest people in the world yet, you can't even figure out your own feelings without having to hurt someone.

A knock on the door signals the arrival of Oscar and tears you away from your thoughts, bringing you back to the real world. You open the door to reveal a smiling Oscar who you notice is holding something behind his back.

Smiling, you ask, "What are you hiding behind you, Oscar?"

Oscar chuckles as he answers, "I thought you might notice."

With one final chuckle, he reveals a bottle of some sort of wine with a bow on top of the cork.

Seeing the confuse look on your face, he quickly says, "It's an Italian Red Wine that I thought we should share before we go out. I know you aren't much of wine drinker and that you prefer beer, but I figured, why not?"

Laughing, you let in Oscar and grab two wine glasses from the cabinet. He pops the cork off and lets in a strong aroma of wine as he pours it into the glasses. He lifts up his glass and says, "Here's a toast to the most beautiful FBI profiler there is."

Smiling, you toast his glass before bringing it up to your mouth. As you taste the wine, you feel a burning sensation go through your throat along with a sour aftertaste. You try coughing it away but you can't get rid of it.

A concerned look flashes along Oscar's face as he asks, "Is everything alright, Natara?"

Trying not to be rude towards Oscar, you say, "Yeah…. just a little… strong is all."

You turn away as you chug the rest, hoping it will get rid of the taste. However, it just seems to get worse and you realize that you are starting to get a sharp pain in the back of your head. Unable to support yourself, you collapse onto the floor, coughing violently. You realize right before everything goes black, that Oscar is nowhere to be seen.


	2. Chapter 2: Discoveries

**Heyy everybody! I guess I was supposed to put this on my first chapter but, since this is my first story, I'm still trying to get the hang of this. Anyways, thanks so much for reading and liking my story and I'll make sure to keep this updated as best as I can. Also, thanks for the wonderful reviews so far and keep reviewing to tell me how you CoD fans like it!: D **

**3 Cynthia (MexiFBI95)**

**P.S. I'll also take suggestions because I do tend to get writers block… a lot **

_Marveling at the newly found knives made entirely of human bones, Genevieve Collins looks to Henry Sotto, a mentally unstable young man who she has recently recruited as one of her children._

"_Oh my word, this is remarkably well crafted Henry. I knew I could count on you for the job." Genevieve looks at the set more carefully and to her disappointment, reveals dry, crusted blood still visible on the bones. Henry notices it too and starts to get nervous, fidgeting with his hands. After a long moment of silence, Genevieve puts down the bones and steps in front of Henry._

"_Look at me dear." When Henry keeps looking down, she yells out, "Look at ME!" and slaps him across the face with a loud SMACK!. Rubbing his cheek with his hand, he looks up to Genevieve with a blank expression._

"_Excellent. Henry, dear," Her voice softens as she cradles Henry's long face with her small, hard, cold hands, "I never meant any harm but you must understand that I want you to show your talent as best you can. Do you understand me?" With a brisk nod by Henry, Genevieve continues, "Perfect. Now dear, go on and wash off to go to bed and remember, don't let me down again."_

_As she watches Henry leave, she hears a loud vibration from the kitchen counter. Looking at the caller I.D., she picks up instantly and says, "What do you have for me, Esme?"_

_Genevieve hears laughter from the other side as she is answered, "It has been done. We have what you want."_

_A sinister smile forms around Genevieve's face, "Marvelous, I'll be there soon."_

**You are now Detective Mal Fallon**

You wake up to a brilliant morning sun and curse at it as you get up and find yourself with a massive headache. Stumbling over the clutter that fills your apartment, you head over to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, hoping to find something for the pounding ache. Finding two motrine, you pop them into your mouth and brace yourself over the bathroom sink. You look up to your reflection to find your hair all over the place, eyes bloodshot, your breath reeking of alcohol and a hint of a hickey on your lower neck. You shake your head as you say, "Damn, what a hell of a night." After what happened with Natara yesterday, you needed a way to blow off steam and beer and girls came to mind. However, you regret everything that happened and wish you could've held in your emotions and not blown up on Natara. Anyways, you know that you have to apologize to Natara and hope that she will accept your apology.

An hour later, you are cleaned, dressed, and only feel a faint ache in your right temple as you head down to the precinct. Captain Young texted you earlier that there was another murder last night but you haven't been able to reach Natara on her cell as it goes straight to voicemail.

On the third failed attempt you leave a message saying, "Hey Nat…. It's Mal… I just wanted to let you know that the Captain wants us on another murder so… give me a call back will ya?"

As you enter the bullpen you head straight to Captain Young's office and hope to see that Natara is already there, but to your disappointment, she is not. Captain motions for you to sit and asks, "Detective Fallon, I had hoped that Agent Williams would be with you. Have you called her in?"

"Of course, but it goes straight to voicemail."

"Well, I guess you'll have to inform her later. Anyways," she leans forward in her chair as she explains, "We have a problem Detective Fallon."

Confused, you ask, "What do you mean Captain?"

"I mean that the murder last night may have a connection to Genevieve Collins."

Shocked, you ask, "Why do you assume this Captain?"

Captain Young sighs as she says, "You're just going to have to look for yourself."

She shows you pictures of the crime scene, revealing a young woman in her early twenties with her head partially blown off, which you assume is a shotgun wound. You also see that all ten of her fingers have been neatly cut off, leaving bloody stumps as hands.

"So, you think Genevieve Collins had one of her children do this? Take all her fingers and what? Take them as souvenirs?" you ask, disgusted at the thought of someone taking the life of another just for the 'craft' of it.

Captain Young nods as she adds, "Yes, and if memory serves me right, whatever Genevieve Collins is planning, she will stop at nothing to get what she wants."

Remembering back to the day Genevieve killed Senator Collins just to have you put in jail gives you goose bumps. Shaking your head, you ask, "Do we have an I.D. on this woman?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure Amy and Kai have something for you down in the lab. Keep me posted on what you find. Hopefully Agent Williams will show up soon to help you on the case."

You nod, say goodbye, and then exit Captain Young's office. You dial Natara's cell again, hoping she will finally pick up but once again, though, you go straight to voice mail. Cursing under your breath, you hang up your phone and instead of going down to the lab; you head to your car to find out what's going on with Natara.

Ten minutes later, you park your S.U.V. outside Natara's apartment. Once up the stairs and through the hallway, you knock on the door. To your disappointment, there is no answer.

"Natara?" you say into the door and knock a little harder. The hard knocks cause the door to open on its own. To your shock, the door reveals a trashed apartment with everything out of place.

"What the hell?" you say to yourself as step over the threshold to turn on the lights.

With the lights now on, you now see the extremity of the mess. There is broken glass everywhere with the furniture overturned as if someone had been in search of something. To your horror, though, you find Natara is nowhere to be seen and discover a small pool of blood along with a broken bottle of Italian Red wine.

"Damn it!" you yell to yourself and immediately call Captain Young.

"Detective, I'm surprised you are already calling. Did something come up?" she says as she answers your call.

Running your free hand through your hair you respond and say, "No Captain, but I think some things happened to Natara," you pause everything sinks in to the bottom of your gut and continue saying, "I'm pretty sure it has something to do with Genevieve Collins."

**You are now Special Agent Natara Williams**

You swim around in darkness, weightless inside your own body. All your thoughts float around in a blur as you try and comprehend what's going on. The last thing you remember was the concerned look on Oscar's face as you faded into darkness. Oscar. Did he do this? Are you dead? No, you can't be. Death shouldn't be this painfully dim.

Everything is answered when you feel a sharp pain run along your face as your head turns to the side from a hard slap. At first, everything is still out of focus, but within seconds, your vision clears, revealing a smirking Esmeralda Santos standing over you.

Trying to get away from the danger, you realize that you can't move as you are tied and bound to a steel chair. Esme gives you a sinister laugh as she says, "Hello Agent Williams, I assume you had a lovely nap?"

She grins widely as you just glare at her in silence, struggling against the restraints.

"Oh come now Agent, do you really think we would leave you unrestrained? I believe you remember what happened the last time you were here."

Your eyes widen as Genevieve Collins steps out of the shadows, matching Esme's grin.

Esme leaves laughing as Genevieve continues, "I truly do not want to hurt you Ms. Williams. All I want from you is to stand by my side as this city becomes a playground for my children." She starts pacing the room as she explains, "Your great intelligence and cunning strength what keeps me from winning this war. But with you on my side, there is nothing, _nothing_ that will ever stand in my way. So I leave it to you Agent Williams, either choose to cooperate the easy way or," Esme returns with what seems to be rope and a crow bar, "the hard way."

Hoping your voice won't falter, you glare at Genevieve and Esme as you say, "I will _never_ help _you_."

Genevieve shakes her head as she says sadly, "I was so hoping you would cooperate and spare yourself the pain. But note this Ms. Williams, everybody breaks at some point. You will just take a little longer."

**Wow… a lot longer than I expected but any-who please review and tell me what you all think!:) **


	3. Chapter 3: Hitting the Nerve

**Hola everybody! Thanks for continuing to read my story and for bearing with me on the updates. Too much homework at school and so I haven't had the chance to continue with the story, plus the usual writers block delayed the chapters quite a bit. Anyways, I'll try and write as much as I can to keep you guys in the loop and most of all happy. :D Hope you enjoy and if you have any suggestions, I am always open to new ideas.**

**3 Cynthia (MexiFBI95)**

**P.S. I didn't catch it at first, but when I read through chapter 2, instead of Salazar I put Santos and I'm pretty sure everyone knows Esmeraldas last name is NOT Santos. :) **

_Oscar Santos frantically paces around his dingy motel room, running both hands through his hair, desperately waiting for his phone to ring. Oscar couldn't believe he would ever end up in this situation, ever. He had been a District Attorney for so many years and had made plenty of enemies. But none had ever tried to harm his family and himself. That is, until __**she **__came into his life. That's when everything changed. Because of her, his ex had been murdered and his son's life was now in the clutches of Esmeralda Salazar. The vibration of his phone swiftly jolts him from his thoughts. He answers at once when he recognizes the number._

"_H-h-hello?" he stutters._

_Oscar hears a menacing giggle that sends a chill through his spine. Making sure he regains his voice, he says more confidently, "Where's my son? I've done what you asked now give me my son!"_

"_Yes, you have done exactly what you've been told." answers a voice with a slight British accent, obviously not Esmeralda._

_Confused, Oscar asks, "W-who is this?"_

"_In due time my dear, all questions will be answered, but for now let's talk."_

_Angry and slightly annoyed, Oscar says, "What's there to talk about? I've done what you've asked; now give me my son back!"_

_The voice on the other end sighs as she says, "I know you have. But there seems to be a little problem. You see, Ms. Williams is apparently… _stronger_… than we have anticipated and has yet to reach her breaking point."_

_Shocked, Oscar says, "What? B-but Esme promised that she wouldn't get __**hurt**__!"_

_Another chuckle and the voice explains, "Yes, but sometimes violence, I'm afraid, is the only option into persuading someone to do what you want."_

_Oscar starts shaking with fear, anger and a hundred different emotions all in one as the realization of what he has truly got himself into sinks in._

"_Besides," she continues, "don't you want your son back?"_

_With that, Oscar here's a muffled cry of a little boy asking to go back home and then everything goes silent. Tears stream down his face as he throws the phone across the room and sinks down to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably into his hands._

**You are now Mal Fallon**

You are running your hands through your hair as the realization that Natara has been taken hits you like a nuclear bomb. It takes everything you have not to break down and scream at the techs dusting for fingerprints. The fact that the last time you saw Natara you were yelling at her weighs heavy on your conscience. You do not want that to be the last thing Natara remembers you for. Shaking your head, you wipe away that thought and get down to business. You are going to find Natara, alive, even if it kills you.

Two hours later, after finding little evidence at the crime scene, you head down to the lab where you hope Amy has better news for you.

"Amy, please tell me you have something for me." you ask as you walk through the doors.

She doesn't answer you but keeps her fingers frantically typing on the keyboard, eyes darting across the screen.

"Amy…?"

With a jerk of her head, Amy looks up from her work, eyes widening as she sees you and then stammers on, "Oh, Mal! Oh my gosh! I can't believe someone would hurt Natara! Well, of course I can, she's the best FBI profiler there is and with all the bad guys she's put in jail, it's no wonder-"

"Amy!" you interrupt and as she turns pink with embarrassment, you ask, "So do you have anything?"

Nodding her head, she says, "Yes! Well, maybe, hopefully. Um… remember when Captain informed you on the possible break in the Genevieve Collins case?"

Remembering, you recall, "Yeah… the Jane Doe with her fingers all cut off?" As Amy nods her head, you ask, "Did you finally get an I.D?"

A slight smile appears as she answers your question, "Yes, her name was Christina Sanchez."

Sounding familiar, you say, "Wait… that name… son of a… isn't she Pretty Boy's ex?"

"If by Pretty Boy you mean Oscar Santos, then yes." Amy says. "Anyways, I thought I'd do a little research and it turns out, Oscar hasn't been to work in over a week. It turns out the M.E. pinpoints Christina's death to seven days ago. _So, _I called around and dug into school records to reveal that their son, Stefan, _also _hasn't been in school for over a-"

"A week. Ok." You run your hand through your hair as you try and put the pieces together.

After a moment of silence, you come up with nothing and ask Amy, "I still don't get it though. How is this connected to Genevieve Collins? Unless…" With a horrible realization you explain, "Ah hell! The other night Natara told she was going on a date with Pretty Boy. The same night she went missing! I think Genevieve Collins sunk her claws into Oscar, using his family against him. All for one thing, or in this case, for Natara."

"What are you talking about Mal?" Amy asks.

"Think about. Who's the only person that has managed to escape Genevieve Collins? Natara. Natara is the only one who managed to read her and now she wants another round. I think Genevieve has been tracking her whereabouts. That's how she knew she had a date with Pretty Boy. It was a set up."

"Ok… but how did someone manage to do that? Even if they tracked her down, how was someone able to take Natara without a fight?"

As if on cue, Kai runs into the lab, almost running into the door.

"Kai!" you hear Amy shout.

In an exasperated voice, Kai bends over as if he has just ran a marathon and says, "Sorry, sorry. It's… just that… I found why… Natara… didn't put much of a… fight." He lets out his breath, trying to control his breathing.

"What the hell are you talking about Kai?" you ask, weary of his appearance.

Kai straightens and hands you a paper with a bunch of weird chemical formulas and a picture of a wine bottle.

Turning to Kai, you ask, "What's this?"

Having controlled his breathing, Kai responds, "It's the reason why Natara's was taken so easily. I found traces of some sort of poison that I haven't quite been able to identify. But," Kai points a finger up in the air as if saying 'not to worry' and continues, "From what I found, this poison temporarily kills all functions of the nerves, making the person have no use of their body."

Anger flares as you realize the only person that could have gotten her to drink some fancy wine.

"Damn it! It was freakin' Oscar! Their date… Ah HELL!" you slam your fist into the wall and look back towards a frighten Amy and a cowering Kai.

Feeling heat rise to your cheeks, you apologize to both of them.

After a temporary awkward silence, you clear you throat and ask Amy, "Can you track down Oscar's cell? Maybe he's stupid and didn't think that we can track it."

Nodding her head, Amy zips her fingers across the keyboard lightning fast and at last yells out in victory, "Got it! I have Oscar and he's on the move."

**You are now Oscar Santos**

You have no idea where you are heading but you know that you have to keep driving. Nowhere is safe. The British lady called you an hour ago to meet her near the Golden Gate Bridge but to keep circling, just in case you were being followed. Yeah, by now that dead beat detective has probably already figured out everything. You know that Mal is in love with Natara and would do anything for her. Hell, he even faked killing the freakin' Mayor! He wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger on you. That is, if he's managed to track you down. As you helplessly round the parking lot in front of the bridge, you see an elderly woman standing with her arms crossed behind her back, giving you a wicked smile that sends chills up and down your spine. Getting closer, you finally realize who this woman is. None other than Genevieve Collins herself.

**You are now Special Agent Natara Williams**

Everything hurts. You can't even remember when the beatings stopped, but you can still hear Esme's screams. Her screams telling you to break. Telling you to give up. Telling you that you are weak. Telling you everything she can for you to break down in defeat. But to your immense relief, you haven't been broken. Not yet at least. There is going to be endless beatings and hurtful words in order for you to scream in pain or break down in tears. That's why you are going to stay quiet and hold every ounce of anger and pain in until it is time. Until you figure out a plan as to how you're going to get out of this hell of a mess. The fact that Genevieve even tried to kidnap you again means that she's up to something. Something big. A war that will rage on in the city with her 'children' most likely doing all the slayings. Innocent lives being taken by a woman who enjoys the craft of the human's as a piece of art.

As you try to reposition your aching body, you gasp in silent pain coming from your left side and know that something is broken. It makes you realize how much more you can really take before you breach your pain tolerance. You shake your head to clear that thought away. No! You ARE strong and will put on a show before you carry out your plan.

You hear the door creak open and a stream of lights comes in, making you flinch away. Oh no, you think, please not again, at least let me rest. To your disappointment, however, you hear the sinister laugh of none other than Esmeralda Salazar.

Hoping your voice doesn't falter you, you ask in a harsh tone, "What do you want with me now?" To your relief, your voice echoes loud and strong, causing Esme's smile to falter for just a sec.

You smile to yourself as she retorts, "Well, looks like the bitchy agent hasn't quite given up, has she?"

"If by bitchy agent, you mean me, than yeah… looks like she hasn't given up."

"Well that's too bad, because round two of Plan Break Down the Bitch involves one of these babies." She raises her right arm to reveal what looks to be a taser. A big one.

Nevertheless, you laugh at her and say, "What, too much of a coward to fight back a wounded Agent? Or are you just too weak to get down and dirty?

Just as you suspected, anger flares in Esme's eyes as she says, "You fucking whore!"

Laughing at her, you say, "Then why else would you need a taser? Oh wait, I know, because you feel empowered by it."

"Shut your fucking mouth!"

You keep going, "Needing a little gun to beat down a tied up person is pathetic. You're not capable of using your own two hands. You need to feel the power! You thirst for it. Even crave it. I'm guessing Daddy was too busy getting wasted on his own product to pay too much attention to you?"

Finally loosing it, Esme slaps you so hard you taste blood pouring into your mouth. But all you do is spit it out and laugh at her as you say, "Wow, I think I hit a nerve."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Esme screams at the top of her lungs and you smile before everything goes dark once again.

**Oh snap! Go Natara! Haha anyways sorry again for the delay and I promise to try and keep this updated especially now that I'm on break. Maybe you could leave me a little review to tell me how you guys liked it as an early (or belated) Christmas present and I'll possibly post the next chapter a little faster?:D**


	4. Chapter 4: Putting the Pieces Together

**Okay so it's been a long time since I've updated and I feel really bad since I get pissed when someone doesn't update their fic. I'm not even going to rant off about excuses but just know that I'm sorry and that I am now on top of the updates. Hope you guys are still with me and that you enjoy. I've basically already had the end written a long time ago but I'm still going to keep this going with more chapters and hopefully things will fall into place seeing as that I'm making up the rest as I go along.o_0**

**3 MexiFBI95**

___Oscar Santos hesitantly steps out of the car before approaching Genevieve Collins. He can feel every fiber of his being shake as he gets closer. He shakes from fear, from anger, but most of all for the well being of his son because this woman is the only thing that stands between life and death for him._

_Genevieve smiles as Oscar stands in front of her and says, "Well, well, Mr. Santos. It looks like we're both in a rut."_

_Confused, Oscar asks, "What do you mean? I've done everything you've asked…"_

"_Yes, yes I know. But you see," Genevieve looks around warily before continuing, "you want your son back, right? And I wanted so badly for Ms. Williams to cooperate so I could give him back to you because frankly, I know what's like to lose a child. Unfortunately for both of us, this isn't the case."_

"_Well what am I suppose to do? Talk to her? Nothing will make her work for you! Don't you get it?" Oscar flings his hands in the air as he continues," There's a reason why she's the best at what she does. No one can ever change her mind unless it puts some…" Oscar trails off as he finally realizes what Genevieve is planning._

_Smiling, Genevieve says to Oscar, "Good work Mr. Santos. Now if you want your son back, I suggest you come with me."_

_Genevieve motions behind her and Oscar can see now a black SUV with two broad shouldered men standing by. Oscar looks back behind his shoulder before heading towards the vehicle._

**You are now Special Agent Natara Williams **

Everything is black again. And again you are in desperate agony. It seems like with each passing hour, instead of subsiding, the pain grows more intense. It probably has something to do with the fact that Esme tazered you beyond human capability. The electricity still runs through your skin as you slowly open your eyes. To no surprise, you are still tied tight to a chair and now, thanks to profiling Esme, you are gagged. Even though you are extremely tired, you desperately try and work your way free of the ropes to the point where your wrists start bleeding because you have rubbed them raw. It's hopeless now. For one second you believe that Genevieve Collins has finally broken you. But then you think of your family. As pissed off and hurt you are at your Father's reaction of your career choice, you know deep down that he loves you. Neha and your Mom mean the world to you even though they drive you crazy sometimes and it will break their hearts if anything happened to you. Then you think of your friends that you've made here in San Francisco. Amy, Kai, and Ken have always been there to help out and have more than showed their willingness to help you out. Although Kai can usually be a hand full. Finally, your tiresome thoughts lead you to Mal and the last memory of him and you are fighting for the stupidest thing. You can't give up now knowing the last time you saw him was your bad side. You want to let him know how you truly feel about him. You can't hide it anymore and realizing you may never see him again gives you an extra boost to keep fighting. You realize then that in order to escape this ordeal long enough for someone to find you, you're going to have to play along with Genevieve Collins plan and figure out a way to send a message.

The rattling of the door indicates that someone is coming and the sudden stream of light blinds you before you realize who is standing in the doorway. Along with a smiling Genevieve, Oscar Santos stands nervously beside her, looking at you with wide eyes as he sees your broken body. Instant anger rises within you as you glare towards your new guest. If looks could kill, you're sure that your glare could stop a whole army of serial killers in their tracks because Oscar seems to recoil into himself.

"Well Ms. Williams, it looks like you two have some catching up to do."

Genevieve leaves the door open as she leaves you and Oscar alone. You know you look like hell and being alone with Oscar only enforces that fact. But to your amusement, Oscar looks like he walked through a leaf blower, seeing as his usually combed hair was greatly disheveled.

"Nat… I…" Oscar starts but can't go on as, to your surprise, he collapses to the ground and starts to break down in uncontrollable sobs.

"P…please… Nat… I…I'm so…so so sorry…that this has…happened to you!" Oscar refers a hand to your mangled body. "I just… they… took my…my son! What…what was I…suppose to do?"

Your eyes widen as Oscar continues to sob out his story. "They killed… oh god… they killed… my ex. I was… so sure that… they were going to kill… my son. But then…I got a call…from Esmeralda Salazar…"

All the pieces started clicking together once Oscar mentioned Esme's name. Genevieve Collins knew that she would never be able to get to you personally. So she used someone else to meddle for her. That's why she used poor Oscar. Even if Genevieve managed to capture you, it would be pretty hard to get you to do _her _dirty work. Oscar was just a puppet and the fact that she endangered his son's life and caused his ex's death only enforced your plan. It seems that as long as Genevieve Collins is alive, you will always be putting people's lives in danger if you don't give her what she wants. Right then and there, you understand that neither of you will be able to come out of this alive if you are to finally put a stop this mad women's schemes.

As Oscar finally finishes what you just learned, he asks you what you knew he came here for, "Natara…Please…will you help Genevieve Collins, for my son?"

You open your mouth to say "yes" but remember you are gagged and so you look straight into Oscar's drained eyes, where you find little trace of the Oscar you once knew, and nod your head.

At your answer, Oscar closes his eyes and whispers "Thank You"

As if on cue, Genevieve Collins comes in with a small boy, Oscar's son, with a sly smile on her cruel face. Instantly, the little boy runs towards Oscar, both of them crying as they are reunited.

Genevieve just stands to the side, eyes moving from you to the two Santos. She notices your stare and laughs in girly pitch as she says, "Oh silly me! I forgot to take that dirty rag from your mouth. I'm pretty sure you have a few words for me."

Oscar stands up; lifting his son with him, as Genevieve roughly removes your gag.

There is a moment of awkward silence as you just stare into Genevieve's cold eyes.

"Just give me your word that you will leave Oscar and his son alone and leave my family out of this."

Genevieve clasps her hands together as she says excitedly, "Oh dear, of course you have my word. I have no use of them anyways now that I have you at last. You will learn my ways and in due time, I will tell you my 'game plan' in winning this war." She turns to Oscar as she says, "You are free to go."

As Oscar leaves, he takes one look back towards you, guilt clearly written in his eyes before disappearing into the light.

"Well then, where should we start?"

**You are now Mal Fallon**

"Amy, can you pinpoint that last location from Oscars damn cell or not?" You angrily talk into your phone as you leave the dirty motel room. You are not too happy that Oscar has had you on a wild goose chase and have so far ended up with nothing.

"Geez Mal, I'm doing the best I can." Amy shakily responds through the phone.

Sighing, you say, "Sorry Ames, you know I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just pissed this son of a bitch has me driving across down like an idiot."

You here a chuckle from the other end as Amy says, "I know Mal. And it's okay. We all want to find Natara as soon as possible. But… YES!"

You shrug the phone away from your ear as Amy shrieked the last word, "Did you find something this time?"

"Oh, sorry sorry. But I've had recent activity coming from Oscar's phone! It's recent, about an hour or two ago. The transmission just came in from the radio tower west of you so… weird… it says he's near the Golden Gate Bridge."

"All I need to get me boosted up again. I'll be there in ten minutes. Thanks Amy."

You race down the street as you frantically weave in and out of traffic, hoping to get something out of this chase.

As you approach the area around Golden Gate Bridge in just mere minutes, your luck seems to turn as right in front of you is Oscar Santos getting into his car. You quickly stop in front of his car, almost hitting a garbage truck, and dive out of your car, gun raised and pointed towards his head.

You yell out at him to put his hands out with the car keys in one hand as he says, "WAIT! You don't understand!"

Before you give him the chance to explain, you here the wails of a small child yelling out, "Daddy, what's going on?"

Slowly, you lower your weapon as you say, "Santos, you have some big explaining to do."

**So what do you all think? This chapter should give you an idea of what is yet to come and once again, super sorry for the extreme delay.o_0**


	5. Chapter 5: A New Hope

**Another chapter up in less than three months… woohoo for me*_*. Anyways thanks to those who still stuck around and to the few that actually reviewed the last chapter. I know I'm not the best at updating but it's nice to know this story is actually liked… well hopefully. I'll try my BEST at updating regularly since it's now SUMMER VACA but who knows.;p So without further adieu, here is the next chapter and please leave a little review so I can see how you guys like it so far. :D **

**3 MexiFBI95**

_Henry Sotto stood perfectly still as he anxiously waited for the signal that would allow his brothers and sisters to attack. Today they would take an enormous step in showing the dumbasses at the SFPD that his family meant business. It would only be a matter of time before he would carefully take his favorite ceramic knife and plunge it into the heart of his victim, twisting slowly to make sure all the vessels in the heart ruptured. Before they would painfully take their last dying breaths, he would perfectly slice all their fingers off one by one, making sure they felt the utter agony of ceramic metal clashing with bone._

_ Today, his victim would be Jocelyn Sanchez, the younger sister of famous chief officer Christina Sanchez. Henry had been watching her for a reasonable amount of time, enough to notice that tonight, the esteemed Chief Sanchez wouldn't be coming home till late into the night, far too late to save her precious little sister. Genevieve knew that it was a huge risk, but it would plant a stepping stone into breaching the SFPD through pain and fear. Nothing was ever out of reach for his dear mother. She had finally just recently gotten that arrogant Agent, as Henry would think, to finally cooperate, and with her help, they would be unstoppable. _

_ As Henry swam in his thoughts, his head jerked up as a powerful white flash erupted into the San Francisco sky. He smiled to himself as he imagined all the screams for mercy and the final hitched breaths of their victims. It was time._

**You are now Det. Mal Fallon**

As soon as you bring in Oscar into the interrogation room, you take him by the collar of his scruffy shirt and slam him with your entire mite against the wall, causing a loud _oof _to escape his mouth.

"WHERE IS SHE YOU SON OF A BITCH!" you yell at the top of your lungs.

The minute you had found Oscar, you so badly wanted to get your hands on him and choke out every bit of details as to where Natara was. But you couldn't. No matter how much you wanted to, you didn't want to paint a darker image to Oscar's son of law enforcement being the bad guys. From first- hand experience, it isn't easy knowing your Dad is a criminal. The kid had already gone through who knows what at the hands of that she devil Genevieve.

Oscar had been on edge the whole drive to the precinct and only talked to say goodbye to his son. He looked like shit since he probably hasn't slept in weeks. For a moment, just a tad second, you feel sorry for him. It couldn't have been easy wondering if your kid was still alive or even safe. But your anger returns as you realize Oscar could have gone a through a whole legal process into finding his son, rather than put Natara in danger. For that, he would certainly pay.

As you pin Oscar to the wall, waiting for an answer, he does something you least expected; he bursts out into tears. Not sure what to do, you release Oscar and as you do he falls to the ground, his shoulders heaving with every sob.

"I…I'm…so…sorry!" Oscar says in between sobs.

You sit down and quietly say, "Where is she Oscar?"

"I…I… I don't…_know_!" He flings his hands out as he forces the last word, "When… sh…she picked me up… the windows…were tinted… I… I… couldn't see anything."

You look at him in pity and the feel the weight of the week's events finally sink in.

"Think Oscar." You say, trying to keep your temper and frustration in check, "What did the place look like. Anything out of the ordinary can help. What do you _remember _Oscar?"

Oscar lifts his head from his hands, his breathing now controlled.

"I… I remember Natara." Oscar's voice waivers as he mentions her name, "She… was being held in a small room. God… she looked _awful_."

You clench your jaw as Oscar continues, "She… she looked like… like hell. I… I never wanted her… to be hurt! All I wanted… was my… son. But… there was …another room."

"What other room?" You ask, your heart pausing for the answer.

Oscar looks up, squinting his eyes, trying to remember, "It was… it was like a…a trophy room. It had all these… weird objects… no wait… oh God… they were human bones!"

Oscar looks to you in horror as realization of where Natara is being kept hits you.

"Ah, HELL!" you yell as you hurry out of the room, knocking the chair you were sitting on backwards.

As you leave, Oscar scrambles to his feet and shakily asks, "Wait! What about me?"

You look back and respond, "We'll talk later."

As you sprint through the precinct, you bump into a stunned Amy.

"Mal!" Amy squeals.

"Sorry Amy, but I just found out where Natara is." You apologize and keep going.

"But…" Amy starts but you continue to hurry out the door. As you step out, your eyes are blinded by a bright white explosion in the sky.

You here Amy yell your name and as you turn, the expression on her face tells it all. San Francisco is under siege.

**You are now Special Agent Natara Williams**

You sit in the small, dark closet, too numb to feel any of the aches and pains of who knows how long ago. With Oscar gone, you know he would be found and detained. Even with what he has done to you, you can't blame him. Obviously he could've made better choices in trying to get his son back, but he's a D.A., not a cop. All he wanted to do was see his son safe.

With all your heart, you know that Mal is out there trying to find you and probably by now, has found Oscar. He probably knows where you are right now, but it's no use. Genevieve is minutes away from moving to a different location and you with her. There's nothing you can do. For a moment you're scared that you have truly been broken and feel as if there's no hope in anyone finding you. But then you here someone talking and by the sound of the stupid British accent, you know it's her.

"I assume everything is ready for our arrival." There is a pause for she is on the phone with someone, probably Esme, "Yes, yes I assumed my dear old Erik's house was untouched. Who would want to live in a house of horrors?"

Her voice trailed off as you finally realized that this was it. Genevieve was taking you back to the beginning of the Maskmaker case. Erik's – Brian's – old house, which was bought by Genevieve herself, would never sell on the market because people never again want to reopen the terrifying chaos the Maskmaker created in San Francisco. It was now probably abandoned and would therefore serve as Genevieve's new base. It was a house in which served to create a view of the entire city, or in this case, the view of her destruction.

Glad your hands weren't bound anymore, you press your bloodied and shaking fingers behind your back, feeling the cold slab of concrete. You then, very carefully, finger printed the word _Maskmaker _knowing that by the time Mal figures it all out, you'll be long gone by then. Hearing voices becoming louder, you know you're about to move and therefore, quickly and painfully tear a scrap of your now filthy red dress from the bottom and tuck it into the corner of the room, hopefully giving Mal peace that you are somewhat okay.

The flooding of light blinds you as two large tatted men come in behind Genevieve.

Smiling almost apologetically, she says, "Well dear, it seems like our old friend Oscar has been brought it by the dashing Detective Fallon. Heavens knows it would be a matter of time before he gets by my distraction, so for your own good," Genevieve motions for the two meat heads to come forward, "I'm going to have to restrain you for our big move. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me, but I have to do what I have to do."

"I thought you said you trusted me now." You say, glaring at the she devil.

"Darling, I do! But precautions must be taken and you are a great liability. You don't know how special you are. With you now in check, the Uprising has begun."

With that, she leaves you to the meat heads and you slowly smile to yourself as they take you, not noticing anything of what you have left behind.


	6. Chapter 6: Revelations

**Hey guys, a special shout out to **_**The Last Poison Apple **_**and **_**mozzi-girl**_** who gave me that hope that maybe this story actually means something to people. Haha, anyways thanks again for hanging on for so long and hopefully I won't disappoint. So without further adieu, I bring you guys the next chapter and please R&R after, they seriously are much appreciated!:) **

_Jocelyn Sanchez stood perfectly still as Henry Soto, holding her in front of him, slowly caressed her cheek with what appeared to be a ceramic knife._

"_P…p…please let me go." She begged, lines of tears streaking down her face, "I… I…promise…not to tell...anyone."_

_Sotto's ragged breath breathed down her neck as he chuckled and replied, "Sorry little one, but my mother would not like that. You see," Henry twirled Jocelyn around, keeping the knife under her chin, "I'm on an agenda. You won't be around to see, but soon, my family and I will have this city under our control. Then, my brothers and sisters will be free to do as we wish and use our… craft against people. Even the esteemed SFPD with their Captain and Detectives won't be able to control what is yet to come."_

_Shakily, with eyes facing skyward, Jocelyn asks, "B…b…but what do I have to… do with any of…this!"_

_Henry laughs again, and presses the blade a little tighter against her chin, causing whimper and a trickle of blood to escape his victim._

"_The reason, _mi amor_, is because your rotten sister is a key into gaining momentum into this Uprising. With her at our mercy, we'll show them who really runs this town."_

_Sounding a little braver, Jocelyn said, "My sister will __**never **__help you and your sick plan."_

"_Not yet at least." He said through a wicked smile._

_As Henry pulled his arm back to thrust the blade into Jocelyn's chest, there was a sound of glass breaking and then utter chaos. There was a high pitched scream as the sound of three rapid gunshots resonated through the house._

_**Bang! Bang! Bang!**_

_ As the smoke from the gunshots cleared, the image of Henry Sotto clutching for dear life was revealed, three clean bullet wounds in his lower torso. Christina Sanchez quickly swept her gun through the scene and kicked away the ceramic knife away from Sotto, who was trying to inch towards it. _

"_You son of a bitch!" Christina yelled, pinning her gun against Henry's chest, "You try and come into __**my **__house and hurt __**my**__ baby sister! Who in the hell sent you, huh?"_

_All Christina got from Sotto was an evil death glare as he spoke his final words through gurgling blood, "The… Connoisseur… will… live."_

**You are now Detective Mal Fallon**

Everything at the precinct is an utter disaster. Within the ten minutes that the white flash erupted, hundreds of calls came in about break ins, robberies, and even murder's. Ten minutes that have ticked by for you to find Natara, who you know is far gone from where she was kept.

You sigh to yourself and run your hands through your hair in utter frustration. It seemed that once again, Genevieve was one step ahead of you and by the looks of it, getting closer to completing her plans of destruction.

As you turn to go once again to Genevieve's old estate, you spot the Chief of Police with her arms around a young girl. The Chief spots you and motions for you to come.

"Detective Fallon, this is my younger sister, Jocelyn. She narrowly missed being killed by one of Collin's sick monsters. I want to know what you have so far in this case."

Although the Chief's composure was serious, her eyes told you the hurt of almost losing her sister.

"Well, Chief, as you know, Genevieve has Agent Williams who received help from D.A. Oscar Santos. We've managed to detain him and figure out the location of Genevieve's hide out and pinpointed that that's where she has Agent Williams." You pause and see the shimmer of hope in the Chief's eyes and it saddens you to continue as you say, "Unfortunately, I believe that Collin's knew we would eventually get Santos and therefore created this whole Uprising as a distraction, giving her the chance to escape."

"I see." The Chief says emotionless, "Then go on, Fallon, see to it that this monster is finally taken down."

You nod and give your word that you will put an end to all this chaos.

**You are now Special Agent Natara Williams**

You feel so worn out and tired but still hold on to that hope that Mal will somehow figure everything out, just like he's done so in the past. As soon as you arrived at Genevieve's new hide out, you were whisked away and locked in a small, upstairs bedroom with only a small window as your light source.

"Don't worry," one of the meat heads said in a thick Russian accent, "Genevieve will be calling for you soon." With that, he locked the door behind him as you heard chuckled fade away down the stairs.

As you take in your new surroundings, you see that there is a flimsy old mattress in the corner with what appears to be a set of clothes on top, a bucket of water on the side and packages of beef jerky.

_Hmph, _you think to yourself, _good to know I'm being treated just as good as a dog._

You plop yourself down on the mattress, which to your surprise, after being tied up to a hard metal chair, is actually really comfortable. Taking the bundle of clothes, a pair of slacks and a purple button down shirt with a black blazer, you carefully ease yourself out of the torn and ratty dress.

You gasp in pain as every motion causes a flare to spark up in all your muscles, knowing that more than one bone is broken, but clench your teeth and pull the blazer over. Even though you're finally out of the ratty clothes, you still can't get rid of the crusted blood and dirt that covers your body.

Too exhausted to even think about getting a drink, you drift off into a restless sleep.

**You are now Detective Mal Fallon**

A forty five minute drive later, you arrive at Genevieve Collin's estate and after making a quick yet thorough sweep of the place, you carefully approach the front door. You test the knob and once you realize it's unlocked, you quietly slip inside.

It takes a few seconds for your eyes to adjust to the dark, but less than that to realize that there is no one here.

"Damn it!" You yell to no one in particular.

You keep your gun by your side as you search through every room, hoping to find some evidence that Natara was here and hopefully still alive.

After going through what seems to be the entire house, you stumble upon a metal door, almost hidden behind one of Genevieve's trophy cases.

You lift your gun up with your right hand as you open the door with your left, causing a loud, rusting noise to emit from the door. What the room reveals almost sickens you to your stomach and causes your vision to turn a slight red with rage.

The room was no bigger than a small closet, with no windows whatsoever. Right in the center of the closet was an empty metal chair, chains sprawled out around it. But what made you almost sick was the amount of blood staining the entire room.

More noticeably, there was a massive puddle just barely drying in the corner, which you were sure Natara must have been sitting before she was removed.

In your fit of anger, you almost don't notice the red piece of clothing squeezed into the corner, knowing for a fact that it was Natara's. You holster your gun and clutch the red piece of fabric in your hand as if it were your life line and hold your phone in the other.

"Amy, I need you to bring some forensic guys over here."

"Oh my God, Mal is Natara…" Amy asks, her voice quaking.

"No…no she's not here, but I think I might have found another lead."

**You are now Special Agent Natara Williams**

You are woken up by a hard slap to the face and hear a familiar laugh belonging none other than Esme Salazar. _Talk about déjà vu _you think to yourself.

You don't dare rub your stinging face, which you know is probably working on yet another bruise, in order to show no weakness to the Queen of Bitches.

"Aw, did I wake you Sleeping Beauty?"

_Yup, definitely déjà vu._

"Oh no, I just love being slapped awake." You sarcastically answer.

"Hmm, maybe I should do it more often." She answers, a wicked smile plastered on her face.

"Yeah maybe you should, that way I can see your heavily manufactured face and those amazing raccoon eyes." You say, with your own evil glare smile.

"Why you…" Esme says as she readies to strike.

"Esme, dear, I hope you're not rattling our Agent."

Esme freezes in place. For a brief of a second you swear you can see a hint of fear and nervousness in her eyes, but it quickly vanishes as she says, "Of course not Ms. Collins, just showing our _special _Agent some respect."

You hear Genevieve chuckle as she says, "Oh dear, I'm sure she can show you more respect than you can possibly imagine."

You try not to smile as Esme's face goes blank with emotion except for her eyes which show desperately that she wants you gone.

Genevieve clears her throat as she continues, "Well, Esme, if you don't mind, seeing as Ms. Williams is… immobile at the moment," you glare at Genevieve as she continues, "would you be a dear and give us a couple minutes of privacy."

Without a second glance, Esme strides out of the room, leaving you with the old she devil.

Genevieve stays standing as she starts speaking to you, "Well Ms. Williams, I think it's about time for you to prove that you are a woman of your word."

"What are you talking about? I've already cooperated and proven I'm not going to run off." You say, somewhat scared as to where this is going.

"Oh darling, but I need you to prove you are capable to take my place when I am gone. You of course know that, sadly, I myself am incapable of 'getting my hand dirty.' That is to say, I cannot kill anyone. But you, Ms. Williams can. That is what makes you such a powerful being, not hesitant to pull that trigger, or plunge that blade. I envy your capability but am joyful that I have you now."

"What are you getting at Genevieve?" you angrily ask.

"What I am getting at is simple. The whole purpose of all of this is to prove one point, just one point. That is, that no matter how genuine someone may seem, they are all corrupt. Every last one of them. Even if it seems just. Even if it is to save a beloved, everyone will fall at some point to crime. Having you here will show that flimsy law enforcement agency which you must know there are still corrupt officers, that they are not the law; we are."

"So what do you want me to do!" you yell out, tired of hearing her ramblings.

Genevieve's eyes go dark, the corner of her lips rising to her eyes, "I, Ms. Williams, want you to _kill_."


	7. Chapter 7: Recovering Clues

**A/N: Hey people! I think I'm finally getting on top of this updating stuff!:) A big thanks to who have been the ones to encourage me to keep this up since you all seem to like this story which is much appreciate. So, as always, hopefully there will be more of you will read and review because seriously, I know it's what everyone says, but reviews are very cool to read, especially if they're praising you;) Enough of my yapping, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

_The chill of the San Francisco night air froze Natara Williams to the bone. Her limbs ached as she waited for Cristal Knight to return from work. Genevieve Collins had made it very clear that if she didn't do this task, then the deal to keep everyone she loves safe would be broken. _

_It was obvious that Natara had no choice, as angry as she was, she was just too tired and hurt to put up a fight. Genevieve had given Natara her badge, which was taken by Oscar when she was taken, and instead of her gun, she was given a sedative which was only all too familiar. _

_Natara was sent alone soon after, a big mistake on Genevieve's part. Even though she was being closely watched, Natara new she wouldn't complete Genevieve's plan, but instead do her own plan. Thanks to the Maskmaker case, she knew what amount of sedative to use to only make someone appear dead. Then, within a certain amount of time, they would come to and that is where Natara would be able to give the information that Genevieve Collins is not working alone._

_The sight of headlights breaks Natara's thoughts as Cristal Knight, the Mayor's secretary, gets out of her car and into her house. Natara waits another agonizing ten minutes before she makes her move. Trying very hard not to limp and cry out in pain, she makes her way up the porch and knocks on the door, thankful that the she has the cover of night to disguise her cuts and bruises._

_As Ms. Knight opens the door, she says in a rather unpleasant mood, "Yes, what can I do for you this _late _night?"_

_Natara flashes her badge as she says, "Sorry to bother you Miss, but I'm Special Agent Natara Williams from the FBI and I'd like to ask you a couple questions."_

_Cristal Knight's composure changes at the sight of Natara's badge and stammers as she says, "Oh, I… I'm so sorry… Agent Williams? Please, come in."_

_Natara stands her ground as she says, "If you don't mind, I'd prefer to ask them out here. I'm on a tight schedule and this should only take a couple minutes."_

_Confused, Cristal says, "I don't understand, what is this all about?"_

_As Cristal ponders her question a sudden gust of wind blows, allowing for the porch light to catch a better glimpse of Natara, leaving Cristal stunned._

"_Wait…you're that missing Agent…Oh GOD!" Cristal rambles, starting to get scared._

_Hoping that Natara wouldn't have had to come down to force, using a new found rush of adrenaline as her strength, Natara overpowers Cristal and drags her in the house, hand over her mouth to keep her from calling out._

_Once inside, Natara subdues Ms. Knight and quickly pulls out the syringe and explains quickly, "Look, Ms. Knight, there's no time to explain, but I am truly sorry for having to hurt you."_

_Cristal's eyes bug out as Natara approaches and starts to struggle out of her restraints._

"_Please, just listen." Natara starts, trying very hard to contain upcoming tears, "This isn't going to kill you. It is only going to make it seem like you're dead. When you wake up, I want you to tell them exactly what happened."_

_Noting that Cristal doesn't seem to be listening, Natara pleads with her, "I'm begging you Ms. Knight, you have to trust me. You have no idea what I've been through and I don't want you to go through the same."_

_Ms. Knight stops struggling and can hear the sincerity of Natara's words. After a long pause, she nods._

_Sure that Ms. Knight won't start a fight; Natara removes the gag from her mouth as she readies the syringe._

"_What…what have they've done to you?" Ms. Knight whispers as she notes Natara's injuries._

_Natara gives a sad smile and says, "Nothing, I can't handle. Are you ready?"_

_Reluctant, Ms. Knight nods._

"_One more thing, I need you to tell the police that Esmeralda Salazar is involved and I think she's up to something more." Natara says and before she can get a response, she plunges the syringe into Ms. Knight's neck, causing her to go utterly still._

_Natara shakily sighs as her adrenaline starts to diminish and can once again feel every ache and pain all over her body. Holding her breath, she uses all her strength to get up and drops the syringe to the floor before crushing it with the heel of her boot._

_Walking outside and leaving the door ajar, she nods to the direction where she knows Genevieve is watching and whispers, "It's finally over."_

**You are now Cristal Knight**

You swirl around in a color of rainbows, flowing, as if in a trance, in constant circles. It feels as if you've taken those drugs from when you were a teen, only you feel a little darker side to it. You can't remember the last time you were this relaxed, not having to worry about work or the boyfriend or the lazy brother who always asks for money. It's just bliss. Too bad the voices won't stop talking.

_Wait, voices?_

Confused, you pay close attention and try and decipher what they are saying.

"_So, you can't tell me what killed her?"_

"_Well, there doesn't seem to be any blunt force trauma anywhere. There are also no bullet or knife wounds. But judging by the faint bruising on her neck, I'm gonna have to go on a limb here and say that she was injected with some type of poison."_

"_Son of a… are you sure? Then this has to be connected with her, with Natara."_

Natara? Natara Williams? That name sounds so… familiar.

Then it hits you. Agent Natara Williams. Looking like hell but sparing your life. Holy crap. You have to think of a way to wake yourself up!

"_How can we be certain Doc?"_

"_Hmm, looks like I'm going to have to cut that area of the neck to look for the needle and then do some blood work."_

Holy shit! Like hell he was going to cut you up!

As you feel cold, gloved fingers touch your neck, you scream and jolt awake.

**You are now Detective Mal Fallon**

The night's events leave you restless as you approach the morgue. The little dumbass Seth rudely interrupted your investigation, stating that the Mayor Secretary, Cristal Knight, was found dead in her home, with no apparent signs of a struggle. You so badly wanted to strangle his scrawny throat when he said that it was obvious that you were wasting your time trying to find a dead Agent. Sadly, Captain was there to give him a scolding and sent Ken to check out Ms. Knight's house while you were to go check on her body.

Although you now clutch the piece of Natara's red dress in your pocket, no leads came from that stupid room. You searched the entire house, but no signs as to where they could have gone were found. But that didn't stop you from forcing Kai to comb every inch of that small, metal room to find some clue Natara could have left behind.

It would be almost impossible if Natara wasn't trying to find ways to lead you to her. She would never lose hope and so, you would never rest until she was safe in your arms.

"What do we have hear Doc?" you say, as you go through the double doors, leading to the autopsy room.

"Ah, Det. Fallon. Other than another poor girl dead on my table, nothing yet."

"So, you can't tell me what killed her?"

"Well, there doesn't seem to be any blunt force trauma anywhere. There are also no bullet or knife wounds. But judging by the faint bruising on her neck, I'm gonna have to go on a limb here and say that she was injected with some type of poison."

"Son of a… are you sure? Then this has to be connected with her, with Natara."

"Now, Det. Fallon, I wouldn't get your hope up. We have to make sure what type of poison it was and even then, ever since the Maskmaker case, there have been hundreds of copycats that leave the chances of this being connected to Ms. Williams one in a million."

"How can we be certain Doc?"

"Hmm, looks like I'm going to have to cut that area of the neck to look for the needle and then do some blood work."

You nod as Doctor Dean Reynolds preps for the incision. As he places his hand on Ms. Night's throat, you swear you just saw her body twitch. Figuring it must be from lack of sleep and your eyes are just playing tricks, you shake your head to try and clear it.

Nothing could have prepared you or even scared you more than what happens next.

Just as Doc is mere millimeters away from making the incision, Ms. Knight opens her mouth in an ear piercing scream and jolts upwards, knocking the Doc on his back, along with the scalpel.

"Mother that is all Holy! She's alive!" the Doc yells, utterly shaken by what has happened.

"No kidding!" you sarcastically retort, rushing over to Ms. Knight.

As you try and calm her down, she keeps saying, "Oh my god… oh my god, oh my god…"

"Ms. Knight, please calm down… Ms. Knight…Ms. KNIGHT!" you yell to get her attention.

Quickly looking at you, then to your side, which has your gun and badge, her eyes start to water as she says, "Oh my god, she was right."

Confused, you ask, "Who was right?"

She looks straight ahead as she answers, "That…that Agent…Natara."

Stunned into silence, Ms. Knight keeps going, "She said she was suppose to… kill me, but…she couldn't. She said she didn't want to hurt me, so she… only made it look like I died."

"Holy shit." You whisper to yourself, and then you say louder, "I know you've been through a lot, Ms. Knight, but can you tell me anything else the Agent Williams told you?"

She laughs silently as she says, "I haven't been through anything close to what she has. She looked… beyond tortured while I got it off easy."

You clench your teeth as you note that that's the second person to note that Natara is seriously hurt.

"She told me to tell you everything. And that Esmeralda Salazar is with her."

"WHAT? What else did she tell?" you ask, shock flowing through your every fiber.

But before you can get anything else, Ms. Knight drifts off unconscious.

"Det. Fallon, we must get her to a proper hospital. There's a reason why I work on dead people; They don't scare the crap out of me." Doctor Reynolds says, finally up after being knocked on his butt.

You sigh as EMT's quickly rush in five minutes later, knowing that you weren't going to get anything else from her.

Stepping out, you pull yourself out and are about to dial Ken when your phone starts ringing.

"Huh, speak of the devil." You say to yourself and answer the phone, "What'd you find, Ken?"

"Man, you're not gonna believe this." Ken says, sounding breathless.

"Natara was there." You sigh; running your hand through your hair which you note is becoming a habit.

"What are you psychic?"

"Ha, no. But our not so dead anymore victim just confirmed that she was forced to kill her. But, of course, Natara outsmarted Collins and only made it seem like she died."

"Damn, that woman can survive anything."

"Let's hope."

Just then, your phone beeps, signaling an incoming call.

"Ugh, Ken, I gotta go, Kai is on the other line. Call me if you find anything else."

"Ha, no problem, and good luck with Kalaba."

You hang up on Ken, and allow for Kai's call to come in.

"This better be good, Kai."

"Yes, yes, oh Mr. Detective Mal Fallon, sir. I've searched through every square inch of this amazing cold, cold metal room, which by the way, it's a miracle that Agent Hotty hasn't suffered any type of hypothermia or infection because there was a lot of blood and I think I got some on my…"

"KAI!" you yell into your phone, not having time for his shenanigans.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, sorry. But since I've been up all night, I've had to stay awake with lots and lots and lots of coffee."

"No kidding. Can you just please tell me what you found!" you ask, trying not to blow up on Kai.

"Oh, well yes, um as I was going through the area that seems to have had Natara, I started dusting for any sign of finger prints and found something very interesting."

There's a long pause and after hearing nothing you say impatiently, "Well, what is it?"

"Oh right, well, I found the word_ Maskmaker_ printed in what I have now confirmed is Natara's finger prints."

"What! Are you sure?" you ask, your heart rising in your throat.

"As sure as Natara is the best profiler at leaving clues."

"Okay, but what does it mean?"

"You're the detective, you tell me."

It takes you a moment to think since of has just happened with you're not dead victim and with the news of Natara's little big clue. You start to try and connect the pieces. There's of course Genevieve Collin's who apparently is now working with Esme Salazar, the killing sprees of Genevieve's so called children leaving two failed murders, one done by Natara and a guy by the name of Henry Sotto who's had mental breakdowns since he was a kid, making him go in and out of jail since he was 12. Then the big one of all is the word Maskmaker, left by Natara. Which means…

"Mother trucker! Kai, I gotta go!"

You sprint through the precinct, not caring that you knock people down, and go straight to Amy. Bursting through the doors to the lab, you accidentally crash into Amy.

"Amy!" you say as Amy yells, "Mal!".

You quickly pick up Amy and apologize as you say, "Sorry Amy, but I think I finally know where Natara is!"

"Really?" Amy says hopeful that it's not another dead end.

"Yeah, Kai found out that Natara left us a clue."

"Okay, so what do you need me to do." Amy asks, a little confused as to why you haven't left yet.

"I need you to track down Esmeralda Salazar while I go get Natara."

"Okay, but where is she?"

"She's being kept at Eric's old place."

With that, you sprint back through the precinct and head towards your car. You were finally going to bring Natara home.


	8. Chapter 8: The Beginning of the End

**A/N: Wow, and just when I thought I was getting good at updating :p Haha, sorry guys for the delay but unfortunately with a busy summer and the start of Senior year, yeah, this story got kind of got forgotten. But hey, better late than never and it's sad to say, but this story is close to concluding but I'll be happy to consider writing. So, I actually wrote this out on paper first because I find I do better and actually get motivated to continue the plot of the story and within two days, I give you this chapter which is my favorite so far. Since this story is almost closing to an end, I do have a sequel idea if you guys are up for it. I promise this time for sure that I will be better at updating since I have finally found my mojo. Any who, hope you guys enjoy it enough to leave a little review and I would like to give the following people a big thank you (plus response) for always being patient enough to stick with this story the whole way:D**

**The Last Poison Apple: **Haha, Natara IS amazing and hopefully you'll like what you're about to read!:)

**mozzi-girl: **Yeah, I think I spoke a little bit too soon:p Go Maltara!

**mynamesrach: **Wow, thanks for that, it really means a lot. And, yeah, I kind of didn't really get Esmeralda's vibe but hopefully, since you thankfully pointed it out, I re-modified her character to explain her previous reactions, but thanks for that!:)

_San Francisco lies under a stormy night, with the dark rainclouds making the city a lit candle under pitch dark nothing. The wind is a bone chilling breeze, sending the scent of the storm throughout the city. A hard drizzle of rain comes down, warning people of what's to come, something that has been brewing for a very long time. Soon, San Francisco will see the beginning of something new, or the end._

_Esmeralda Salazar slowly crawls to a stop in front of the Flores Estate. As she lingers in the seat, listening to the patters of rain on her windshield, her thoughts loiter on the events that are about to unfold later tonight. She has been playing Genevieve's game for far too long. The only reason she decided to team up with Collins was to get Natara Williams away from her life. There was no else she couldn't stand more, besides Mal Fallon, than that nosy agent._

_Williams had been able to get into Esmeralda's mind and play right into her little mental traps. It wasn't like her to lose control. Usually, she was calm and kept a steady poker-face, even in the most unique situations. But, she lost it. That's what scared her the most. The fact that she could handle a psychotic lady who molds serial killers but totally go off on the FBI Agent was unacceptable._

_That's why it needed to happen. Earlier today, Esme had convinced Genevieve to finally put her little prodigy to the ultimate test. Both of them knew at the very beginning that it wouldn't take long for Mal to find Natara. Unfortunately, it was shorter than expected since one of her sources called Esme to say that Mal was close to figuring out their location. Therefore, Esmeralda told Genevieve that in order to get Natara's loyalty at 100%, she would have to kill Fallon. If she didn't, then either way, they would both die. The twist is that Natara would watch Mal slowly and painfully die right in front of her eyes before meeting her fate as well._

_It will all happen with Esmeralda safely hidden away in her fiancés luxurious home where she will then take Natara's place and truly be the one to rule the city without having to hear the names of Mal Fallon and Natara Williams._

**You are now Special Agent Natara Williams**

It's over. You know it's over. All that time hoping that some way you were going to make it out of here alive, has been wasted. You thought you could play it big by just being a step, no, more like a half a step in front of them. Making instant decisions and thinking on your tip toes. It's what you're trained to do. It's what you're expected to do. But your mind can't reel around the fact that Genevieve Collins wants you to kill Mal Fallon, your partner and your best friend. She was apparently tipped off from one of Esmeralda's sources that Mal finally figured out where you were being held and that at this very moment, he was on his way. The minute Genevieve spilled your task, you knew right away that there was no way in hell that you were going to come out of this alive because you are not going to kill Mal.

Mal. How you so wish you could change what you said to him. You should've listened to him and not have gone with Oscar because what Mal said was true. The best profiler in the country and you just figured out that you're in love with, and always have been, Mal. You loved him the moment you met, with his witty remarks and rugged handsome looks. You loved how he was always at your side, protecting your back while you had his. Only now, you seemed to have failed in that department.

Tears threaten to escape down your cheeks as you regret not telling Mal the truth earlier, about how you truly feel. You're not going to be able to because you'll probably be dead before you even get to see him. Mal could be walking into a world of hurt for nothing and it's all going to be your fault. What's almost as upsetting is the fact that you've managed to get yourself to this point. Battered, bruised, and broken. All the things you so desperately tried not to be. Even though you fought so hard not to show any weakness, any emotions, it was all pointless.

You breathe a sigh of frustration for giving up on yourself, causing your torso to flare up in pain from who knows what's been broken or bruised. On instinct, you cringe and grit your teeth, your hands going to your side, hoping to subdue some of the pain when all of a sudden you feel something in your inside pocket. Careful not to cause any more agony, you slowly reach into the pocket and pull out something thin and long with a needle point. A syringe. Your eyes nearly bug out of their sockets as you realize you still have the damn syringe. You couldn't believe you had forgotten about. It was the dosage that you had taken out from the previous one you were suppose to inject into Cristal Knight.

Suddenly, your heart once again gets that sliver of hope. It seems like your half a step ahead of them again. What you now hold in your hand is hopefully going to be the key to give Mal time to escape and finally bring down both Genevieve and Esmeralda. It'll also with a bit of luck give you an opening to say good-bye to Mal because that hope you have isn't for you anymore. It's for him, to save the one you love.

You cautiously reposition yourself on the flimsy mattress so your back is resting against the wall with your head under the small window, listening to the storm that has consumed the city. Laying the syringe on your lap, you pinch the needle in the middle, bringing it to a 90 degree angle. Since there are always two meathead guards that come up to get you, you want to make sure you get both of them without too much of a commotion. With the bent angle of the needle, you'll manage to inject one guard and break it off in half with the needle still in his throat along with the lethal fluid, then quickly subdue the other one with the rest of your "weapon". It's a major long shot, but if it works, your plan will be set in motion.

Without a moment to spare, you hear the screeching of tires as a car comes to a halt in front of the house, skidding in the now heavy rainfall. You quickly, yet thoroughly, put the crafted syringe in your right jacket pocket, letting the bent part of the needle protrude from its hiding place. As if on cue, the two guards barge into the room, guns drawn and ready to be used. You let your body relax, which is hard, knowing that there are two guns being pointed right at you to let the guards assume you're too weak to put up a fight. It works and they hurriedly re-holster their weapons and move to be at your side, one on each of your flank. Before they even reach out to take you, a rush of adrenaline surges through your body, allowing you to elbow the guy on your right and kick the other in the groin, taking the syringe and plunging it straight in the jugular of the guard you elbowed. You bend the syringe out of its 90 degree angle, releasing the other half freely in your hand, causing a gushing stream of blood to be released from the guard's now lifeless body. Too soon before the other guard can recover, you reel back your foot and kick the meathead's bent over body, causing him to lie back on his back from the force. You rush up on top of him and with both hands, sink the syringe straight into his heart, instantly causing blood to gush from his mouth as he twitches his final movements before staring blankly at the ceiling.

Not even catching your breath, you hear the cracking and breaking of a door being ripped off its hinges. Instantly, you know its Mal, with his gut instincts taking over. You hear some commotion of a fight breaking out and that when your FBI instincts take over. Completely ignoring your pain, you get up and take both guards weapons, a 45 caliber pistol. Putting the extra in the back of your waistband, you take the other and hold it out in front of you. Without looking back, you quickly and carefully make your way for the exit.

Right away as you round the corner of the door, to your right you are greeted by a shocked guard who starts reaching for his gun, but before he can even pull the trigger, you shoot off a round smack dab in the middle of his forehead, sending a barrage of brains out the exit wound. As the guard slumps to the ground, you hear Mal yell your name and then the sounds of guns being fired. Your heart sinks to your stomach as your mind reels with the thoughts of Mal being shot. Not hesitating one bit, you sprint, or try to, to the end of the hallway where two guards stagger up the staircase, both wounded. Immediately, you aim your gun and finish the guards, sending them tumbling back down the stairs. You never noticed how heavily guarded this place really was.

As you slowly come to a stop at the staircase, you hear the familiar sound of a voice swearing and as you edge closer into the light, you see Mal, alive and well. A sight you never thought you'd ever see again. You feel your eyes once again well up with tears as he stares right back, his eyes twinkling with relief. Not breaking eye contact, you whisper, "Mal." And take a slow step down the stairs as he says, "Nat, I'm-"

But he's cut off as you feel a cold arm slip around your neck, keeping you in a chokehold and grab the firearm in your back waistband.

"Natara!" you hear Mal yell.

"I wouldn't if I were you, Detective." Genevieve says in a cold tone.

You look over to Mal who has his gun pointed up in your direction.

"Now, I know you know I'm not capable of killing, but fortunately, if you shoot me, my finger, which is held ready at the trigger will sadly kill Ms. Williams here. So I suggest you drop it now. That goes to you too, dear."

You hesitate as you watch Mal, instantly dropping his gun and kicking it down the stairs. Not wanting any harm done to Mal, you do the same.

The instant your gun hits the ground, however, you see and hear the flood of police sirens, causing Genevieve to tense ever so slightly as she knows that this isn't going to end well for _her._

"Give it up Genevieve. Soon this place is going to be surrounded. It's over. Just let Natara go."

Genevieve gives a cold, menacing laugh as she says, "Oh darling, as if that's ever stopped me before. Now," Motioning down with the gun, she continues saying, "Slowly step down and go out the door. Tell your friends that if they don't want me to all of a sudden change my profile and kill Ms. Williams, they'll all back down."

Glaring at Genevieve, Mal slowly heads down backwards the remainder of the stairs, Genevieve following in his suit, holding you surprisingly firm for someone her age.

Once Mal's back reaches the door, Genevieve motions for him to turn around and says, "well, go on lovely, we're right behind you."

Mal doesn't instantly turn around. He looks at you with a heart wrenching stare in which you can feel everything he wants to tell you, but most of all, that he's sorry. Even though Genevieve holds the gun tighter to your temple, signaling Mal to move, you nod your head and give him the same stare. _It's okay. It's not your fault. I'm sorry. _

Mal takes a deep breath, turns, and opens the door. He is instantaneously greeted by a dozen red lights aimed right at his chest with many voices yelling at once to get out. Mal raises his hands at shoulder level and yells out, "Captain! Tell your men to back down. NOW! We have a code green!"

Through the haze of the pounding rain, you can make out the blurry figure of Captain Young as she waves her hands in the air, calling out, "All officers, retreat to your posts. Code green! I repeat, code green!"

Mal looks back to Genevieve, slowly lowering his hands as he says, "I've done what you've asked, now let her go. You can leave now."

Again, that cold menacing laugh echo's into the stormy night. With the adrenaline now almost depleting, you can literally fell you body slowly shutting down from all that you've been through.

"My dear Detective, I am not quite through. First we need to talk."

You can see Mal trying so hard to keep his anger in check and not just go after Genevieve himself.

Keeping her grip rock solid with the gun still trained on your temple, Genevieve slowly makes her way out of the house and into the soaking wet front yard, instantly getting drenched to the bone, feeling all the dirt and crusted blood make its escape down your body.

"What do you need to talk about?" Mal yells from both his anger and the fact that the rain was coming down so hard that it was hard to hear.

"I want to know, Mr. Fallon, how you were able to find Ms. Williams here? I knew eventually you would find her, but how?"

Genevieve stops circling half way, leaving your left side exposed to the swarm of officers, painstakingly waiting for the outcome of this situation.

Mal turns to face both of you, revealing a smirk as he answers, "Well, isn't it obvious? It starts with you always kidnapping the best FBI Agent there is."

You try hard not to laugh as Genevieve, bewildered at Mal's response, says, "Well, I do need the best to replace me when I'm gone." She pauses and you can almost feel the smile forming on her lips, "Luckily I've found someone almost as qualified to replace Ms. Williams… Esmeralda Salazar."

Both you and Mal yell in unison, "What?" because you got to admit, you did not see that coming.

"Then what do you want with Natara?" Mal angrily asks, fists clenched tightly at his sides.

"Isn't it obvious? To finally finish her off." You close your eyes in frustration as she continues, "It's like that saying goes, if I can't have her, no one can!"

"You can't just kill her!" Mal screams.

"Oh I don't plan on killing her just yet. First, it'll be anyone she's ever loved, like her dear old family." Your eyes fling open at Genevieve's last words. No, you think to yourself. You can't let this happen.

"Every day, she will watch somebody die until there is no one left and every day she'll regret living any longer, knowing she was the cause of this." You grit your teeth, almost ready to explode. No. She can't be serious.

"And we'll start with you, Detective Fallon." No!

A shot rings out and suddenly see Mal clutch his left arm. NO!

"MAL!" It's time to make your move.

Before Genevieve can shoot again, you scream out loud as you take both hands and grab the gun, still in Genevieve's hand, and bend over to press it into your lower abdomen and…

BANG!

"NATARA!"

Everything is happening in what seems to be in slow motion. You feel your body fall onto the flooded lawn, landing on your right arm, like a pillow, with your left one outstretched in front of you, feeling your blood pour out freely from the gaping hole in your middle, pain brimming your body like a fiery inferno, nothing you've ever felt before. You can actually feel your life fade away into the unknown.

Then you hear it. Heavy footsteps coming towards you at full speed and before you know it, you're being turned onto your back and are left face to face with Mal. You can't help but smile and reach your hand up to wipe away the tears that are coming down Mal's chiseled features, mixing in with the pouring rain.

He takes your hand and presses it to his cheek, with his other trying desperately to stop the bleeding and starts saying, "I'm so sorry Nat, I never meant anything of what I said to you last. Please, just hold on."

Even though it is starting to get extremely difficult to breath, you force yourself to say, "Mal… I'm… sorry."

Mal shakes his head, his hair splashing out the rain, "No, Nat. You have nothing to be sorry about."

You can hear the approaching sirens of an ambulance, but you can feel yourself hanging on by the mere threads of life you have left, your hand starting to go slack in Mal's hand.

"Take… care of…my family." Your eyes start to weigh down, feeling extremely heavy and making it hard to keep them even half way open.

"No, Nat. Don't say that! You're to be fine. Help is on the way. You just gotta hold on a bit longer." Mal pleads with you as he yells off in the distance, "Where's that medic1"

But its too late. With your final remaining ounce of strength, you say to Mal, "I… I…love… you." Then, all the pain, all the aches, all your worries turn into nothing with those final words as you are succumbed into darkness.


	9. Chapter 9: Stay With Me

**A/N: Holy Jesus people! I can't believe it's taken me like a year to finish this story! I know it shouldn't have taken this long but I'm glad for those who read it and **_**actually **_**took the time to**__**review because those seriously meant a lot to me. So, as I finish this short little note with responses to my awesome reviewers, I hope you guys enjoy this long deserved finale and hopefully find the little surprise at the end as good news. **

**ZeDancingHobbit****: Haha, yeah. I don't particularly like them myself, but they keep me on edge to find out what happens next o_O**

**bugreid****: Wow, thanks for that and I'm glad you enjoyed it.:D**

**NiekaWow****: Ha, you too huh? Well thanks for taking interest in this story.^_^**

**mozzi-girl****: ':) Thanks!**

**The Last Poison Apple****: He, glad you liked it!;) AND OMG YES! When I played the last bit I was like WOOHOO!*raises arms in victory* that was definitely years in the making. I'm sure Natara will find the sons of bitches who took Mal and kick their asses.:p**

**Maltara13: Haha, thanks, hopefully the ending won't disappoint.**

_Everything lay quiet under the finishing night of San Francisco. The once menacing storm has now faded into a cloudy fluff in the air, finally subsiding the tears that have rained down on the city. Immediately, Esmeralda Salazar knows that something is wrong. It should have been done by now. She should have gotten the call long ago. Sitting in the dimly lit den of the Flores's estate, she flickers the large plasma TV. to life and clicks the remote until she reaches the news. As soon as her eyes lay on the headline, she feels her stomach drop 100 feet into the ground: MISSING FBI AGENT FOUND; GENEVIEVE COLLINS DEAD._

_Esme felt her face redden as she listened to the news anchor announce the recent events._

"_**Good evening, this is Todd Elmer with breaking news. With the end of a dying storm also comes the end of the notorious Genevieve Collins. About a week ago, the serial killer Connoisseur kidnapped one of law-enforcements finest, FBI Special Agent Natara Williams, who as of now, is in critical condition. It was announced moments ago by sources on scene that Agent Williams was being held at gunpoint after finally being found by Detective Mal Fallon, only to shoot herself in order to subdue Genevieve Collins once and for all, possibly saving all of San Francisco. This heroic act leaves our hearts heavy as we await the news of her fate. Reporting to you live from the scene this is Todd Elmer, back to you Kelly.**_

"_**Yes, thank you Todd. Well, folks while we wait on more news to come on Agent Williams, we are still getting more information as to how this mess all occurred. Our inside sources have been telling us that it was our very own DA Oscar Santos that set up Agent Williams due to the fact that his **_**son **_**was being held as well. Oh… hold on a sec folks, this just in that the SFPD have just ordered an arrest warrant on Esmeralda Salazar who somehow was involved-"**_

_The television screen goes black as Esme flings the remote in its direction, destroying it on sight, fuming at the turn of events. She couldn't believe after so much work that it was all crumbling apart, starting from scratch once again._

_Suddenly, Esme can hear the wail of sirens from a distance and knows that it is time to go. She takes an emergency duffle bag filled with cash and weapons, hooks it across her shoulders, and escapes into the chilly night, disappearing into the fog, avoiding detection from the now dozens of cruisers._

**You are now Detective Mal Fallon**

"_I love you."_

Those three words whisper in your ears and linger into every thought as you recall tonight's events.

You could feel Natara's hand slip away, her eyes fluttering shut and then nothing.

"Nat? NAT!" you say, frantically trying to wake her up. But nothing seems to work. You keep putting pressure onto her wound, trying to stop the bleeding, blood caking your hands a deep crimson. Even when the paramedics come, you refuse to give up on her, not letting them come near.

"No! Don't touch her!" you yell as one of the medics tries to take over, still keeping the pressure on.

"Sir, please, let us do our jobs." The medic says patiently yet in an urgent tone.

With a sigh of defeat, knowing you aren't able to help Nat any longer, you release your hold and let them move in.

They quickly work like clockwork as one medic takes over your position while another, having found a slight pulse, pumps air into Natara's lungs, all the while quickly getting her on a stretcher and into the ambulance to be taken to the hospital.

Not even bothering to wipe the blood from your hands, you sprint to your car to follow the readied ambulance. As you burn rubber, peeling away from the now crowded driveway, you see the captain bent over a body bag, knowing that Genevieve Collins finally got what she deserved, thanks to Natara. You make eye contact for the briefest of moments with Captain Young, knowing that she hopes Natara pulls through and then you focus on the road, seeing sirens blaring in front of you. Gripping the steering wheel tight, you pray that you'll be able to tell Natara that you love her too.

Now, you stand in the waiting room, pacing back and forth, not being able to stand not knowing Natara's condition. Amy sits with her head resting on Kai's shoulder, her eyes red and puffy from continuous tears while Kai keeps a blank expression, trying not to cry himself. Captain Young had come earlier but had to leave in order to deal with the paperwork and the press, but she wished her best for Natara and was off, not even bothering to hide her tears slowly falling down her face. Ken had his head in his hands and you could feel his eyes watching you as you yell at a passing doctor, trying to get at least an ounce of information as to what is going on with Natara to no avail.

"Come on Fallon, chill. You really think Natara's not going to pull through? It is Natara we're talking about." Ken says as you frustratingly plot down on a seat beside him.

"I can't help it Ken. She lost a _lot _of blood. And who knows what else she suffered at the hands of those sons of bitches.'

"You're right, we don't. But do you think yelling at anyone wearing a white coat is really going to help her situation?"

You sigh as you answer. "No."

"Damn straight. Man, you know we're all worried."

"I know. It's just," you run your hands through your damp hair as you continue, 'I love her."

Despite the situation, Ken laughs as he says, "Ha, you think we all didn't know that? It's 'bout damn time Fallon. Just hold onto that and you'll pull through. We all will."

You shake your head, not helping the small smile. Was it really that obvious? you think to yourself.

As hours pass without a single peep from the doctors, more and more people flood into the waiting room. Friends and colleagues have all come to support and pray for a miracle.

But what really got your attention was Natara's family. The minute Neha walked in with her parents, she instantly spotted you and ran towards you, barely getting up as she tightly embraces you, sobbing into your shoulder.

"P-please tell… me m-my sister… is going… t-to be…okay." Neha says in between sobs.

"I-I…I don't know yet." You say, trying hard to keep your voice steady.

As Neha grips you even harder, Natara's parents approach you, her mother stifling quiet tears as her husband keeps his face expressionless. However, just by looking at his eyes, you know he is truly worried for his daughter's life, no matter how mad at each other they always were.

"T-thank you for finding my daughter, Mr. Fallon." Mrs. Mansingh says, faltering a little at first.

You clear your throat as you respond, "I just wish things went differently."

She nods in response, clinging to her husband for support, just as the doctor finally comes out. You so badly want to run over and find out the news, but you restrain yourself as you acknowledge Natara's father.

He stares at you, then towards the doctor and nods his head as he says, "Go."

Without another word, you gently release Neha to her parents and quickly make the stride to the doctor and ask, "So, is she going to be okay?"

Everyone seems to hold their breaths as they lean in their seats, the doctor breathing a heavy sigh, looking at his clipboard and saying, "Well, she managed to pull through surgery, but only time will tell if she will make a full recovery. I mean, she's been through one hell of a roller coaster ride, suffering from malnutrition and dehydration, along with a major concussion. Not to mention four fractured ribs on her left and two on her right, a shattered shoulder blade and dislocated shoulder as well as a broken femur. Plus, she had severe internal bleeding from heavy blows and what appears to be brutal taser burns. That through and through gunshot wound doesn't help much either. It seems the only good thing is that the bullet didn't penetrate any organs."

Each injury listed off by the doctor is a blow to your heart. Running both hands through your already disheveled hair, you ask again, "So _is _she going to pull through? Can I go see her?"

"It's hard to tell from this point, seeing as she's unconsciousness-"

You don't even wait for the doctor to finish anymore. You can't bear to wait any longer. You run in the direction the doctor came from and keep running until you bump into a short, middle aged nurse and nearly yell out, "Where is Natara Williams?"

After she hesitates, frighten by your presence, you take your badge out and once again ask where Natara is. This time, she doesn't even blink as she stares at your badge, pointing at the end of the hall. Saying a quick thank you, you sprint the rest of the way and come to a halt at Natara's door. Not knowing what to expect, you take a deep breath, and turn the knob, entering Natara's room.

What you see almost shatter's your heart into a million pieces. Never have you've seen Natara so broken before. Her entire torso is wrapped in bandages, going up and over her shoulder, hugging her right arm to her body. The worst part, you realize, as you slowly take a seat by her side, is seeing her beaten face, cuts and bruises marring her beautiful complexion. You can't say it enough, but you know you could've prevented this. You could have saved her before she even needed it. Instead, you decided to argue.

As you ever so slightly brush a few strands of hair from her forehead, you think back at how relieved you were to have found Natara alive. Although she was battered and beaten, she was still Natara, kicking ass and bringing down the bad guys. Seeing Natara fight her way through her captors reinforced her strong nature and if she could take down one of the worst criminals in San Francisco, then she sure as hell could fight for her life, piece of cake.

Your thoughts are interrupted by the door opening to reveal Natara's father, who is for the briefest of seconds, taken aback at Natara's state, but quickly recomposes himself as he says, "Hello, Mr. Fallon."

You nod your head as you say, "Mr. Mansignh." And get up to offer him the seat, but he motions for you to sit back down.

"The doctor has informed me of my daughter's condition." He says, voice slightly trembling, as he approaches his daughter's side, "He told me she's lucky to even be here right now."

"She's a strong woman, Sir." You say, a ghost of a smile playing on your face as you stroke her cheek.

He gives a small chuckle as he says, "Yes, she has always been a strong spirit and incredibly stubborn. It's the very thing that drove us apart, but it also brought us together, although, I never dreamt it would be like this." He motions to Natara's sleeping form as he continues, "I have seen how much she has helped others, always putting her life on the line to save another's. She's always loved to help people. It's something she is very good at, as you may know. I just wish it didn't take this awful event to make me realize that this is her true calling."

"She_ is_ truly the most incredible person in the world and she will pull through. Then you can tell her what you just told me." You smile at the last part.

"That I will Mr. Fallon. I can't thank you enough for bringing my daughter back.'

"Don't thank me. Really, if Natara hadn't left those clues, I'll still be tearing up this city trying to look for her. She really saved all of us."

Mr. Mansignh strokes the back of his hand ever so gently over Natara's cheek, staying silent for a moment and taking in his daughter's presence. You stare as Natara's father lets a tear fall as he brushes a soft kiss on her forehead, not even bothering to wipe it off, whispering, "I love you." With that, he clears his throat and as he exits he looks back to you and answers, "She has, hasn't she."

The rest of that day brought people in and out, leaving many gifts behind and thanking you for bringing her home. Of course, you never leave Natara's side, personally making sure that Natara is forever safe. Even when Ken and Amy insist on taking over for you so as to get some rest, you politely refuse, but thank them anyway. Ken just shakes his head as he pat's you on the back, saying, "God, you crazy bastard." before turning to leave, waiting for Amy to join him. Amy, however, won't have none of your nonsense as she frustratingly says to you, "Mal, sleep depriving yourself won't help Natara get any better and neither will starving yourself. What's best for the both of you is for you to be one hundred percent."

You look up at Amy's flustered face before smiling and answering, "Amy, I know where you're coming from. But I can't let Natara out of my sight for another second. Not again."

Amy sighs in defeat as she says, "Fine I get it. I missed Natara too." She reaches into her bag and takes out a wrapped sandwich, "At least take this. It'll make me feel a lot better if you eat something."

You thank Amy once again as you take the offering and say your goodbye's to the pair, hearing Amy "whisper" to Ken, "God, Ken, can he be any more stubborn?"

As night comes with no improvement in Natara's condition, many except Natara's family and you have left to enjoy the comfort of their homes, hoping for better results tomorrow. You now stay seated at Natara's side, cupping both your hands over the one that isn't bandaged to her body, taking great care to not cause any more harm. He parents and sister have opted to stay in the waiting room, trusting you to take care of Natara and inform them if any changes occur.

For a while, you just hold on to her, listening to the sounds of the machines keeping her alive, pushing air into her lungs to cause the ragged rising and falling of her chest.

"Oh Nat, I'm so sorry," you whisper, leaning your head close to hers, hoping that somehow she can hear you, "I never meant any of those awful things I said to you. And…I know you didn't mean what you said either," your breath hitches as you continue, "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me Nat. I feel like I've known you my entire life. You're my partner and my best friend. You're always there when I need you and the one time I wasn't there for you…I just can't bear the thought of ever living without you. You've gotta pull through Nat because…I love you. I've _always_ loved you."

Tears stream down your cheeks, one escaping down its path of its own and falling onto Natara's lips, causing them to twitch at the contact. You don't believe it at first, but then you feel Natara's hand twitch in yours before looking up to see her eyes flutter.

"Nat?" you say, your voice hoarse with astonishment.

You see her lips twitch into a faint smile as she whisper's your name, "Mal…" before everything goes crashing down.

The machines that have been so diligently keeping Natara alive, start to go haywire as the heart monitor signals Natara's heart flat lining. You are instantly on your feet and yell for the doctors to get in here. Without a moment's notice, they come scrambling in, both the doctor and nurses instantly overcrowding the room, forcing you to move to the back of the room, not knowing what to do. Through the beeping and ringing in your ear, you hear the doctor yell out, "She's going into cardiac arrest! Get me the defibrillator's STAT!"

"But Doctor, her other injuries-"

"I know, just do it!" the Doctor says as he interrupts one of the nurses.

Your presence isn't even noted as you watch in horror as the Doctor takes the defibrillators, one in opposite sides of Nat's chest and yells, "Clear!" before admitting one hundred volts of electricity, causing her body to contort upward as the current flows through her body.

"She's still flat lining, Doctor!"

Dr. Shannon looks up to confirm the results before yelling to one of the nurses, "Turn it up to five hundred volts! We can't lose her now!"

The nurses do as they're told with rapid speed before Dr. Shannon repeats the same procedure, yelling out, "Clear!" before trying to shock Natara's heart back to life. This time her body responds more violently to the current of electricity and you yell out, "Be careful with her!".

They don't even listen to you for Natara is still flat lining.

"Come on, you've got to save her!" you yell out, your hands frantically pulling at your hair.

Dr. Shannon, now desperately figuring out what to do next, instantly gives one last call, "Turn it up all the way to one thousand volts. It's our only hope of bringing her back."

The nurses, still keeping up to speed, and with a final "Clear!", the full force of the electric current sends Natara's body sprawling in all direction.

You plead with Natara to open her eyes as three nurses hold you back from reaching for her as seconds tick away with nothing but the flat line noise indicating Natara's fate.

Tears gush out as you fall to your knees, the Doctor shaking his head to you as he takes away the defibrillators. Your head falls to your hands as you sense everyone giving you a look of pity. You could feel yourself starting to go numb as your whole world comes crashing down with just one person. You barely got her back and now you've…

A sudden gasp and the sound of machines beeping once again makes your head snap up as you see Natara's body shoot up, eyes wide and gasping painfully for breath. The Doctor, having been knocked down in surprise, quickly scrambles up to ease Natara back down and check her vitals and injuries. As you slowly get up, pinching yourself to make sure this is real, you can see Natara's eyes easing closed. But, as she turns her head in your direction, you make eye contact and a slow smile creeps up Natara's beautiful face, this time staying there.

"Mal…"

"Hey there partner." You say as you take Natara's hand in yours and slump down into the chair besides her.

**You are now FBI Agent Natara Williams**

You have never in a million years been so happy to see Mal once again. You have also never been in so much pain all at once ever before. Luckily, out of the corner of your eye, you see a nurse inject what can only be ibuprofen to ease the pain and you know that soon, once again, you will be consumed by darkness, only this time, you know that you'll be able to wake up later.

As Mal brushes some of your hair away from your face, you take in the full realization of where you are, and groan.

Mal, taking it as if he has hurt you, worriedly asks, "What's wrong, Nat?"

The effects of the drugs have already begun to fog your mind as you answer, "I hate hospitals."

Mal laughs, his crooked smile twinkling his eyes as he says, "Wow, still the same Natara everybody loves."

_Love. _That word triggers a strong emotion. A memory of an awful pain before you felt nothing. But there was that moment of utter happiness when you finally told Mal you love him. After almost two years of fighting it, the words escaped your mouth, finally free. However, there was another memory as you were floating in darkness, trying to fight your way out, you could faintly hear Mal whisper those exact words. _I love you._

Even with your fading mind, you know exactly what you're doing as you extend your 'good' arm slowly to cup one side of Mal's face, feeling his beard tickling your hand as you bring him in close. He already seems to know what's going to happen next as he doesn't even hesitate. He just knows. You can feel Mal's warm breath as he cautiously leans in and brushes his soft lips against yours. So tender and gentle, the kiss is full of so much emotion, so much adoration, so much _love_. After what seems like the longest and finest moment of your life, your lips finally pull apart and you look up to see Mal's, warm smile. Finally, knowing that nothing more can ever keep you two apart, you whisper the words you have never heard so much in your life until now, "I love you, Mal Fallon." struggling to stay awake to hear his response.

Mal gives a small chuckle as he leans in close for another kiss, holding your hand as he whispers, "I love you, Natara Williams."

Satisfied, you feel the final brush of Mal's lips as you drift into a peaceful slumber, sensing the faint smile pasted on your face, knowing that he will be right next to your side when you once again wake up.


	10. Epilogue

_****9 Months later****_

Mal Fallon and Natara Williams sprint after Miguel Angel who is the murder suspect in the slaying of a Priest. After confronting Miguel in his home, the young man threw the book he had in his hand and booked it out the back door, conceiving the chase.

"I ask myself this all the time, why the hell do they always run?" A very annoyed Mal asked to his partner as they made an abrupt turn into a back alley.

"Now, where will the fun be if they didn't?" Natara said, as she brushed some of her hair out of her face, her engagement ring sparkling in the late morning sun.

As they came to a split in the alley, Natara and Mal could see Miguel hesitate a little as he veered left into what they both knew was a dead end. Approaching the split, Natara yelled to Mal, "You take the left, I'll go right to make sure he gets surprised."

Before Mal could argue, Natara flew past him as she merged into the right side of the alley, forcing him to take the left. It had been a hard recovery for Natara to get to this point, even though technically she wasn't fully recovered. Her ribs and shoulder had healed back to perfection and the bruises have almost disappeared. But she still had the visible scars and burns from the taser and the defibrillators that had saved her life. Her broken femur has now left Natara with a slight limp in her left side and she still had pain in her abdomen from where the bullet tore right through her. Through those painful recoveries, Mal had been at her side the whole way through and now will be for the rest of their lives. That's why he was so worried at first when Natara, stubbornly, returned back to the force two months ago. He knew that nothing would be able to change her mind and that she needed to work. So as Mal took the opposite side as he quickly took out his gun to approach a now trapped Miguel, he prayed Natara would be okay, as he always did every day since he got her back.

Mal came to slow stop as he pointed his gun at Miguel and said, "It's the end of the road Miguel, put your hands above your head and get on your knees."

Miguel, of course not listening, started pacing in place, looking for a way out as he rambled, "I can't go to jail, man, I can't."

Mal saw a shadow approach from behind the wall and knew he had to stall in order to bring this guy in alive."

"So then why did ya kill that Priest? Just 'cause you don't believe doesn't mean you need to kill."

"Man, I had to. I was told to do it. You don't know what he was into."

"Who told you? Who ordered the hit Miguel?"

Mal could now see Natara steady herself on top of the wall, almost giving away her position by gasping as you feared what she was about to do.

"What's the point, I'm dead already."

"No one has to die today Miguel. Can you at least tell me what you meant as to what the Father Diego was into?"

"He was hitting it up with the _carteles. _He was no Saint."

"Come on, why should I believe that?" Mal said as he quickly nodded for Natara to get ready.

"Is the truth man! If you don't believe me, you soon will." Before Mal could react, Miguel quickly flashed a small glock, aiming it in his direction. Expecting to hear a gunshot, Mal instinctly braced himself for the shot. But none came. Instead, as he looked up, Natara came falling down, landing right on top Miguel, forcing the gun to fall from his reach and causing Mal to have a mini heart attack.

"Nat!" Mal yelled as he holstered his gun and quickly assisted in detaining Miguel.

Mal could see that as Natara hoisted up a cussing Miguel, that she was holding back her pain.

"You okay?" Mal asked as he grabbed the suspect, a little rougher than necessary, and steered him to the now approaching back up.

Natara grimaced ever so slightly as she rolled out her muscles, "…Never better. He served as a nice cushion. And you're welcome"

Mal smiled as he shook his head in disbelief as he said, "For what."

"For saving you, again." She said as Mal put Miguel in the back of a squad car and slammed the door shut.

"You know I'm the damsel and you're my shining knight in armor." Mal said as he held Natara close, not caring that the other officers were staring, some even wolf whistling.

"Just for the moment. Usually you're my dashing, crime fighting partner." Natara said as she hooked her arms around his neck.

"And you're my soon to be wife." Mal said, lifting Natara's chin towards him, closing in the distance between their lips.

As they pulled away, mainly due to the uncontrollable whistles coming from their colleagues, Natara asked, "Do you think what Miguel said was true? About the Father?"

Mal looked at the now receding car and said, "I don't know. But I know more than anything that we'll find the truth."

"Like always." Natara smiled as she took Mal's hand and led them back to their own car.

Elsewhere, Esmeralda Salazar lay lounging in front of her pool in the upscale neighborhood of Hayes Valley, nestle smack dab in the middle of San Francisco.

"Ms. Salazar, there is someone on the phone for you."

"Is it important that they had to interrupt me in the middle of my relaxation?"

"I believe so, Miss."

"Fine, give it here." Esmeralda said as one of her guards hands her a disposable phone, "What."

There is a slight pause and a smile creeps over her face as she answers, "Good. Take him out. He is of no use to me anymore." Another pause and, "No, do not take them down. Leave the happy couple be. Besides, their wedding is just around the corner. We'll have plenty of time to finally take them down."

With that, she throws the phone towards the guard and tells him to burn the phone. Once he leaves, she takes a sip of her fine Apple Margarita and says to herself, "Everything is finally according to plan."

**Duhn Duhn Duuuuuhn! Yes, I have decided to make a sequel which should be out by the end or beginning of the year. Of course, hopefully there won't be as much as a wait as you had to for this story for I shall have already written and typed out the story by then to be able to stay on top of updating. I sincerely am grateful for those of you who have stuck with me since the beginning and to anyone who has read, reviewed and or favorited (yes I know it's not a word but who cares) The Uprising and till next time, please leave a little something something for me to know if you guys enjoyed the ending (or not) and how you feel about a sequel. **

**Yours truly,**

**3 MexiFBI95 ^_^ **


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